Stephen Strasburg was excellent again for six innings. In the seventh, when he ran into some trouble, his defense -- specifically shortstop Ian Desmond -- let him down.
And the entire evening, the offense was completely stymied by Tim Hudson and Jonny Venters, shutting out the Nats on just five hits. They did manage five walks though, but even when they did get base runners, there was no one to drive them in.
The Nats went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base.
Strasburg appeared to get better as the game went on, striking out six out of eight in the fourth through sixth innings. But in the seventh, Strasburg walked leadoff hitter Chipper Jones, and Brian McCann followed with a bouncing ball up the box that Strasburg couldn't get to, going for a single.
Troy Glaus then hit a tailor-made double play ball right at Desmond at short. Whether it was Jones running in front of him, or the rookie shortstop just hurried, but he booted the easy grounder, and all hands were safe.
The flood gates then opened, with Eric Hinske hitting a sacrifice fly to center to score the first run, followed by a hard single from Yunel Escobar.
That would be more than enough for the Braves with the way the Nats offense has been struggling.
Strasburg's final line: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. His record goes to 2-2, with an ERA of 2.27.
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